Confident, Anticipating, Great Circulation, 10 Stars one Sky, Age 56, Nascent Soul Realm… >
Despite being close in level, < Athena's Inspection> gave her most details she needed. There were a couple of buffs she didn't know about, but the thing that caught her attention was the cultivation realm.
According to their rough classification chart, someone at level 160+ should have been at least in the Soul Severing realm, or already in the Dao Seeking Realm. This guy seemed to be one of those exceptions Master Mountain mentioned.
Not just talented but also blessed with the support of a massive family and opportunities to boost his power past his cultivation realm. However, Master Mountain had also mentioned that these guys were not too rare in the higher ranked Sects and families of the province.
"Tell me, will the Fang Clan notice your death, or are you just one of many?" Monique asked mockingly. She didn't know whether he was a figure of importance in the clan or not, and she didn't actually care.
What she knew was that asking the question alone would hurt his pride. For just the blink of an eye, his face distorted into an ugly grimace of anger and indignation, proving her assessment right. He quickly returned to the mask of a confident, young master to hide his displeasure from the crowd.
"Although you show surprising power, I see that you are just a barbarian throwing a tantrum in front of our gates," he countered as if to instill confidence in him in the crowd. The crowd stayed fearful, and only some confusion was added. Calling the destruction of the barrier that was said to stop immortals, the gate, the killing of an elder, and the disassembly of the Tiger Brothers a tantrum was a little off.
Monique rolled her eyes. She didn't care what he called her; his last words were his own choice.
She didn't have all day, so she simply materialized an aura spear in her left hand and threw it at the young master.
The spear shot forth with a speed and power incomparable to the time before she wore the armor. However, she had practiced with this, so she could properly gauge her own power with these skills. Monique wasn't surprised, but everyone else sure was.
The first to escape the surprise was Young Master Fang, not because of his impeccable mental fortitude, but because he died to the spear before anyone could fathom what exactly was going on. Before he could react, the aura spear had already crossed the distance between them and disintegrated his torso.
It was too late to use any defensive techniques or treasures to escape. His appendages and head, barely connected by strips of tissue, unceremoniously fell to the ground, were they landed with a soft splat. Audible silence followed. For just a moment, everything was quiet, then people started screaming.
The commoners and low-level cultivators among the servants and clerks watching the spectacle could no longer hold it together and began a chaotic escape, pushing and shoving past the stoic guards and disciples that were only able to watch in shock and dismay.
The chosen of Athena didn't touch the non-combatant that flowed past her like a frightened swarm of fish. As they were members of the Fang Clan, they passed the golden curtain without a problem. All of them had been free to flee from the beginning. Only now, when their confidence was shaken, did they take this chance to cascade down the mountain.
Monique's gaze once again wandered over the guards and disciples of the outer ring. Judging by their status, it was clear that they had frozen up in shock and fear. The only reason they didn't escape like the rest was their fear of the Fang Family, not loyalty.
She just wanted to ask for the next opponent when she found a man rushing out from behind the second barrier. His robes resembled those of the young master, except that the embroidered patterns were a deep, dark red.
His robes fluttered in the wind as he shot through the air, passed by the crowd, and landed beside the remains of the young master she had just disembodied. The crowd jumped back, as it looked like he simply appeared to them. Monique just observed him as he gently picked the head-shoulder-arms part of Fang Liang, holding him carefully in his arms. His face was a grimace of sadness and disbelief.
"Oh, my poor little Liang, how could you do something so foolish?" he whispered, unsuccessfully holding back his tears. He kept shaking his head, as if to deny the reality in front of his eyes. Maybe this scene would have softened someone's heart.
Not Monique's. She would have bet that a softie like Mike might have started to question whether what they did here was right. "Not all of them are evil." "Many didn't know!" and thoughts like that. The chosen of Athena only looked on coldly at the man who was crying nothing but crocodile tears in her opinion.
If anything, that these people were able to show these emotions for their own kin, but treated others like animals or livestock, or worse, disposable materials, just made them more disgusting in her opinion.
Finally, when the man was done weeping, his wrathful eyes locked onto Monique, who had watched their little soap opera emotionlessly. The body vanished, probably in a spatial ring, and his aura began rising. A physical pressure descended, bearing down on everyone around, suppressing the crowd and even indenting the floor tiles around him.
Status: Enrages, Soul Severing Realm>
Monique appraised him instinctively, as he sat there, staring at her. The burden didn't faze her. This was another guy who didn't quite adhere to their Level-Cultivation Realm chart.
"You dirty savage! You will pay for what you did to my nephew! Don't think this will end slowly," he promised, as he exuded even more power that blew away the robes on his upper body. He revealed a perfectly chiseled torso covered in scars of combat. A crimson aura enveloped his fists.
"I will take my time torturing you to death," he exclaimed and pushed off the ground, leaving a massive crater as he charged at her with overpowering momentum. A fist with the estimated power of a meteor spell was descending upon her, but Monique didn't feel hurried.
Matching his speed, Monique's right foot moved slightly back as she pushed forward her left forearm. As the fist approached, the cloak on her shoulder flowed forward, taking the shape of a shield to meet the fist of crimson aura.
However, the Chosen of Athena didn't simply move to block. Matching the enraged cultivator's timing, she met his fist with a The impact unleashed a shock wave like a storm, blowing away buildings, ruins, rubble, and the remaining crowd. Non-combatants fleeing past the golden curtain were caught by the winds and thrown past the stairs and into the city below.
Time continued, but what happened looked like it happened in slow motion. The fist crashing into the shield began deforming. Broken bones broke through the skin, refined to the strength of metal with the sound of snapping steel wire.
Everyone around was blown away by the shock wave, but those observers hidden on the mountain witnessed the scene of an unstoppable fist being crushed into a bloody pulp by an insurmountable defense. The fist that could have crushed a mountain had turned into a bloody spot on the golden surface of the shield.
The Aegis could not be damaged by mortal means. The Aegis reflected 40% of any incoming damage. The Aegis negated 45% of the remaining damage. The Aegis gave her Monique barely felt the impact, while the fist faced 40% of its own power, in addition to the attack of the
Chapter 1529 - 1528. Fang Liang
More Chapters